The present invention relates to separation apparatus and to methods for separating materials.
Separation apparatus are used in the recycling industry to separate mixtures of materials for separate processing. Examples of such mixtures include: a mixture of glass fragments mixed together with particles of shredded paper; shredded or news paper mixed together with heavy plastics such as food containers and bottles; and metal cans mixed together with plastics and other materials.
Known separation apparatus use an air moving device such as a fan or blower to separate the mixture of materials into like fragments. However, with said known separation apparatus, materials displaced can come into contact and become tangled in a rotating element of the fan or blower thereby rendering the separation apparatus inoperable.